View Full Version : Skating to Caches



Kaching Karen
03-21-2008, 06:13 PM
I was driving by Togus Pond today and noticed the nice glare of ice that was on parts of it. So, I get this thought.... I'd like to skate to some caches. There are three in the capital area that I don't have:

GC1A7BX (Three Mile Pond....) New one that is winter friendly.

GCZ5M6 (Paddling on Branch Pond) Found on January 27th and there's another one at the landing.

GCKM6Y (North Island) Winter Friendly

This would mean lacing on the skates three times, but I am flexible. Maybe only do two caches and some in between. Is there anyone out there that might be interested in doing them this weekend? I am not guarenteeing great skating, but it would be an adventure and/or a good laugh.

Sudonim
03-21-2008, 09:52 PM
Be careful on the ice. There are plenty of spots of open water from Bangor to Skowhegan, not sure about south of here. We don't need to lose any cachers :)

dubord207
03-22-2008, 08:13 AM
Skating here is spectacular at this time, although still rather windy this morning. There's over 3 feet of good ice and no open spots except at the inlet stream at the sourthernmost part of the lake. They're still driving pickup trucks all over the lake, which I neither condone or recommend but that is a good indication of how much ice there is. 2 coins in the cache here at our place. Happy Caching everyone and dress warm!

Medawisla
03-22-2008, 08:01 PM
Sorry, KK. I would have loved to do something like this, thanks for posting a great idea!:cool: However, 1) I don't own skates, though snowshoeing may have worked, but been slower, and 2) I'm sick with a sinus infection. :(
I hope you have/had fun!:cool:

Kaching Karen
03-22-2008, 08:57 PM
Tat and I decided to set out on skates this morning and tackle three caches on three ponds (four caches for tat). We started at Lovejoy Pond and skated to North Island Cache. The ice was very close to perfect! It's the best I've seen in years. It was the first time tat was on skates in 40 years and he did great. Ski poles are the secret to staying upright.

We then headed to the landing at Three Mile Pond and started on choppy ice, but then it became about a mile of glaze. The wind was a great asset when it was on our back, but certainly wasn't unbearable when it was in our face.

The third cache was Paddling on Branch Pond. We walked to that, but then I put on my skates and tat had on his stabilizers and we headed for the cache at the end of the lake. There was some open water at the inlets and outlets, but it was easy to go around.

We headed to Unity and grabbed a couple more caches. I highly recommend that you get out there and skate while the conditions are so good. Fun, fun, fun!

tat
03-23-2008, 07:29 PM
I don't know what made me think I could skate. I did try to skate once. When I was 10 or 12 Dad took us to the Mr. Benson's pond in Maryland. It was one of those rare winters when it froze enough to skate. I had my older brother's old skates. They were about two sizes too big and simply rolled over as soon as I stood up.

Two years ago, I was paddling on small lake in southern Maine and stopped to check out an island. It looked like a nice possible cache spot. Even though it was late summer, there were a pair of ice skates on the ground. They would probably just sit there and rot. So, I tried them on and they fit!!

Fast forward to last week. I wanted to go kayak camping. The weather was supposed to be clear and beautiful. Good thing we didn't go because the wind was 45 mph and gusting!! Karen had the idea of skating to get caches. I had to admit, that did sound better than high winds and high seas. And, how hard could it be to learn to skate?

We took off at nicely protected Lovejoy Pond. I used my ski poles to help stay up. We found the cache and made it back. Not bad, a little less than a mile of skating and no injuries!

So we took off for Three Mile Pond. Like Karen said, the beginning was a bit rough, but soon the ice was perfect. Karen had a great time skating down wind. I couldn't believe I was skating about 8 mph, and wondered what I'd do if there was open water and just how does one stop! We made it 1.6 miles to the cache and I got to take off the skates, which felt good. The cache was a bit hard to find, but not too bad, especially without those skates! I think going back against the wind must be an advanced lesson. I decided to change into boots and stabilizers for the last mile back.

That's when I noticed FrankenGPS was no longer in my pocket. Fortunately, Karen was very willing to go back and look for it. She had to skate an extra mile, but at least she seemed to enjoy it. I had left the gps at the cache!!

I was more than happy to use hike into Branch Pond!

Thanks to Karen, I now know yet another great Maine winter activity. I can't wait to get back out again.

dubord207
03-23-2008, 07:42 PM
I don't know what made me think I could skate. I did try to skate once. When I was 10 or 12 Dad took us to the Mr. Benson's pond in Maryland. It was one of those rare winters when it froze enough to skate. I had my older brother's old skates. They were about two sizes too big and simply rolled over as soon as I stood up.

Two years ago, I was paddling on small lake in southern Maine and stopped to check out an island. It looked like a nice possible cache spot. Even though it was late summer, there were a pair of ice skates on the ground. They would probably just sit there and rot. So, I tried them on and they fit!!

Fast forward to last week. I wanted to go kayak camping. The weather was supposed to be clear and beautiful. Good thing we didn't go because the wind was 45 mph and gusting!! Karen had the idea of skating to get caches. I had to admit, that did sound better than high winds and high seas. And, how hard could it be to learn to skate?

We took off at nicely protected Lovejoy Pond. I used my ski poles to help stay up. We found the cache and made it back. Not bad, a little less than a mile of skating and no injuries!

So we took off for Three Mile Pond. Like Karen said, the beginning was a bit rough, but soon the ice was perfect. Karen had a great time skating down wind. I couldn't believe I was skating about 8 mph, and wondered what I'd do if there was open water and just how does one stop! We made it 1.6 miles to the cache and I got to take off the skates, which felt good. The cache was a bit hard to find, but not too bad, especially without those skates! I think going back against the wind must be an advanced lesson. I decided to change into boots and stabilizers for the last mile back.

That's when I noticed FrankenGPS was no longer in my pocket. Fortunately, Karen was very willing to go back and look for it. She had to skate an extra mile, but at least she seemed to enjoy it. I had left the gps at the cache!!

I was more than happy to use hike into Branch Pond!

Thanks to Karen, I now know yet another great Maine winter activity. I can't wait to get back out again.

Sorry we were out and missed all the "fun." As promised, when we're home we'll provide the refreshments. Hope to see you both and other cachers at the "compound" soon.:)

Sabby
03-23-2008, 08:41 PM
I am disappointed :(

I expected to hear a story about the Tale of Two Skates.

Seriously :) It sounds like you had a good time.

vicbiker
03-23-2008, 08:58 PM
I am disappointed :(

I expected to hear a story about the Tale of Two Skates. Skis are rascally little devils,always trying to run away the minute you're not looking. Where as skates are much more subdued creatures, set them down and they will just sit and wait for you to put them back on again. Much better suited for TAT.:rolleyes::D

Sabby
03-23-2008, 09:06 PM
Skis are rascally little devils,always trying to run away the minute you're not looking. Where as skates are much more subdued creatures, set them down and they will just sit and wait for you to put them back on again. Much better suited for TAT.:rolleyes::D

True but let us not forget this is TAT we are talking about. He did leave his GPS behind.

Mapachi
03-24-2008, 09:14 PM
I was on Three Mile on a snowmobile and that ice looked like open water! I was scared silly.....drive out in a car??! I think not!

vicbiker
03-25-2008, 08:19 AM
True but let us not forget this is TAT we are talking about. He did leave his GPS behind. Might just be an age thing...almost fifty I hear.;)